Fethullah Gulen: From presidential ally to Turkey’s alleged coup mastermind

Fethullah Gulen, the controversial Turkish cleric and ally-turned-foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has passed away at the age of 83.

No cause of death has yet been given although he was known to have been in poor health.

Gulen had resided since 1999 in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains in the United States, where he was said to have lived in an apartment on a compound owned by the Golden Generation Foundation, a nonprofit operated by his supporters in the US.

Though he reduced his public appearances in his later years, he continued to release statements and writings urging followers to maintain their commitment to education, dialogue, and peaceful activism.

Within Turkey, however, he grew to be a notorious figure, accused by the government of running a criminal ring that infiltrated state institutions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who confirmed Gulen’s death this morning, described the cleric as the head of a “dark organisation”, telling a news conference: “Our nation’s determination in the fight against terrorism will continue, and this news of his death will never lead us to complacency.”

Early life

Gulen first came to prominence as a preacher in the 1960s in the western province of Izmir, Anatolia, where he founded a network of boarding houses known as “lighthouses” that offered students academic help.

Gulen gradually expanded his network of boarding houses to include schools, charities, and other civil society organisations.

His supporters would go on to open more than 1,000 schools in 160 countries.

While not specifically Islamic institutions, the schools offered quality education to all students, many of whom went on to key positions in Turkey, including the judiciary, police, and bureaucracy.

Over the years, their influence grew, with the organisations’ supporters establishing the influential Zaman newspaper in 1986, and Samanyolu Television in 1993.

In 1996, supporters of Gulen also launched Bank Asya, further extending the organisations’ reach.

Children play on April 16, 2008 at Istanbul, Turkey’s Fatih College, a school run at the time by followers of Fethullah Gulen [File: Osman Orsal/Reuters]

Move to the United States

In 1999, Gulen left Turkey for the US, where he would remain.

His allies said he had moved due to health reasons, but his critics suggested his departure from Turkey was more likely prompted by a government investigation into his activities, which were potentially undermining the government.

The following year, Gulen was convicted in absentia of conspiring to overthrow the state through embedding civil servants, a conviction that would be cited as evidence against him after a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

An aerial view of Fethullah Gulen’s compound in rural Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, the US is seen in this picture taken July 9, 2013 [File: Gulen/Reuters/Staff]

Allies and adversaries

In the early 2000s, Gulen and his followers were closely allied with Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

This led to the rise of many Gulen followers into influential positions in the state apparatus as both camps sought to counter what they saw as the influence of the secular elite in Turkey’s military and judicial establishments.

However, rumours of tension between the two groups began to circulate in the early 2000s, becoming undeniable in 2013 when police officers and prosecutors who were seen as Gulen followers launched corruption probes to the upper ranks of the AK Party and Erdogan’s inner circle.

Erdogan blamed Gulen for orchestrating the resulting scandal, accusing the religious leader of seeking to use his network of institutions and highly placed officials to operate a “parallel state” within Turkey.

Gulen denied the allegations.

Demonstrators wave Turkish flags as they shout slogans demanding the extradition of Fethullah Gulen after the 2016 failed coup attempt [File: Osman Orsal/Reuters]

Coup attempt in 2016

Three years later, Erdogan again blamed Gulen for a coup attempt on July 16, when factions within Turkey’s armed forces attempted to oust Erdogan’s government and install a body of their own making, the Council for Peace at Home, in its place.

While their efforts were unsuccessful, hundreds were killed in what was the bloodiest coup in Turkey’s modern history.

In the months that followed, suspected Gulen sympathisers were purged across the government, judiciary, and military, and the government designated Gulen’s movement as the FETO (Fethullah Terrorist Organisation).

Turkey made a number of extradition requests for Gulen, but none were granted, with US officials claiming a lack of evidence linking Gulen directly to the coup.

For many of Gulen’s followers, the post-coup purges marked the end of an era. Schools and charities affiliated with Gulen were shuttered and many of his supporters either imprisoned or forced into exile.

Internationally, the movement continued to operate, though with less visibility, particularly in countries where the Turkish government had asked authorities to close Gulen-affiliated institutions.

Within the US, a number of the organisations’ charter schools have been investigated for visa irregularities, as well as accusations of having defrauded the US Treasury of up to $4bn.

Fethullah Gulen never married.